Hollande's love life prompts publishing frenzy in France

A POLITICAL love triangle and a tweet of revenge: it was only a matter of time before François Hollande’s stranger-than-fiction private life became a French publishing phenomenon.

A clutch of books set to hit the shelves explore the “psychodrama” of Mr Hollande’s relationship with his partner, the journalist Valérie Trierweiler.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s second and third marriages spawned their fair share of bestsellers, but what is damaging for Mr Hollande is that he promised a break from Mr Sarkozy’s style of putting his love life on display. Now writers are taking the president to task for not keeping his word.

The key book is Entre deux Feux, by journalists Anne Rosencher and Anna Cabana, out tomorrow. It traces the background to the day in June when Ms Trierweiler tweeted her support for a dissident Socialist running for election against Ségolène Royal, publicly displaying her animosity towards Mr Hollande’s former partner.

It forced the love triangle on to the front pages and “opened the door to the president’s bedroom”, the authors write.

The book claims that Mr Hollande considered trying to get back together with Ms Royal in 2007 after she ran for president.

Ms Trierweiler is depicted as anxious and lacking self-confidence.

During the campaign, if Ms Trierweiler felt she was not getting enough attention from Mr Hollande, she would “dramatically disappear”, the book claims, leaving Mr Hollande asking: “Where’s Valérie?”

The book reveals that she sent her famous tweet from her office in the Élysée Palace while Mr Hollande was in his own office in another wing, after berating him by phone over his support for Ms Royal.

Another book, La Favourite, a journalist’s open letter to the “dangerous” Ms Trierweiler, is already out, to be followed next week by L’Ex, about Ms Royal.

Ms Trierweiler’s book of photos from the campaign, François Hollande President: 400 Days Behind the Scenes of a Victory, has been a sales flop. – (Guardian service)